You make me new, You are making me new.

Monday is over. I have only two weeks left of school. One week of real classes. One week of finals. Then three months of home sweet home.

During the 12 hours I spent at The Living Room on Saturday, I did a few things besides homework (believe it or not). I also compiled a summer reading list and a list of cool coffee shops to try in Denver.

I also realized that I wrote about that a few days ago. I also realized that I told my best friend about said lists today, even though she had already read about them...can't believe she puts up with me!

Anyways.

I am very excited about my reading list. It's very long, but here are the non-negotiables:

a) Odes, by John Keats - I first heard of John Keats when I watched a BBC biographical drama about his life shortly before he died. I've never been one to read poetry but I fell in love with the words used in the movie - can't wait to read it!

b) The Complete Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - I love a good mystery, and these are, apparently, some of the best.

c) The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Edgar Allen Poe - See above.

d) A Life of Charlotte Bronte, by Elizabeth Gaskell - Jane Eyre is my favorite book of all time, ever ever, and I'm excited to read about the author :)

e) Many books by C.S. Lewis...Mere Christianity (I never finished), Surprised by Joy, Screwtape Letters, Reflections on the Psalms, The Great Divorce, We All Have Faces, The Problem of Pain, A Grief Observed

We'll see! I will at least have finished all of the above by August, if not more.

One week of normal classes...I can do it! Here are my goals for the week:

a) Finish both my Abnormal Psychology and Experimental Psychology papers. Neither of them are due until next week, but I want to have the time and energy to do a decent job studying for my exams.

b) Take extra time and effort to be with and be there for my friends. I don't have much time with them left!

c) Meet with Katie (this year's Activities Director) about my duties next year.

d) Start the process of going through my belongings and giving/throwing away things I don't want to keep - and don't be stingy! GET RID OF A LOT OF STUFF.

e) Take time to work out every day. Gotta be as ready as possible to face that mile high altitude!

f) Play around on my guitar every day. Will have to say goodbye to it soon.

g) Call around places at home and try to find anyone who will hire me for a seasonal position.

Here's to this week, here's to finals, here's to packing, here's to summer vacation. It's coming quickly!

P.S. Listen to Beautiful Things by Gungor. Amazing. I've heard it playing from people's rooms ever since Jared and Amy sang it on Friday...no one can seem to stop listening.

Theology

I had no idea I would enjoy my Theology class as much as I do. As much as I've loved the Bible classes I've taken so far (which have been New Testament, Old Testament, and Principles of Bible Study), it's honestly all been stuff I've learned at Sunday School at one point or another. The focus in previous semesters has been all about what God has done, a history of sorts. Theology is who God is. IT'S SO COOL.

I love the way my professor teaches, because he just talks for the whole time slot, but everything he says matters, even when he goes a little off-subject. Last week he shared what has been the most stirring thing my heart has experienced recently.

At the end of our lives (or rather, the beginning), we will stand before the Lord. And He will see and know all that we've done...all we've spent our lives building. And his fire will come and burn away everything that is of this world, everything that is temporary, material. Destroy it. But everything that is eternal, righteous, will withstand the fire. Everything that lasts. And our little piles, our measly little collections of good and holy and eternal, we will offer to the Lord. Lord, here is what I have, here is what I invested in, here is the part of my life that will last.

So, he said, make sure you invest in things that are eternal. The souls of people, and the Word of God, these are what are eternal in this earth. Invest in these things.

12 hours on my butt.

The Living Room, for you Coloradans that do not know, is the cutest, best, most wonderful coffee shop in San Diego (I even like it better than my dct coffee shop that's in the antique store...the coffee is better). It's literally like a living room:

I was there yesterday for TWELVE HOURS. At noon a few friends and I took our books and computers and drove over and posted on a long couch. Then we stayed for TWELVE HOURS.

Still can't believe it.

But it was so great and so productive. Here's what I did:

a) worked on three papers on and off - didn't finish any but made SO MUCH PROGRESS.

b) made a reading list for the summer, and researched cool coffee shops to try in Denver.

c) drank a good amount of delicious coffee.

It was a good day.

Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently*.

I should never be surprised when God's Word satisfies me...but I always am.

We heard from a Messianic Rabbi in Chapel today...so cool! I found the song he shared to be so beautiful and true.

It was called "Dayenu," a Hebrew word meaning "it would have been enough for us" or "it would have been sufficient." The Jewish people have been singing it for over a thousand years.

If he had brought us out of Egypt, dayenu.

If he had split the sea for us, dayenu.

If he had fed us manna, dayenu.

If he had given us the Torah, dayenu.

If he had brought us into the land of Isreal, dayenu.

God goes so above and beyond for me...he gives me what is dayenu and so much more.

*While the Bible has made an impact on me "recently," it has also been continually impacting me, not-so-recently and beyond.

I'm a Loser

This is going to be a great week. No, this is going to be a WONDERFUL week. Let me tell you why.

a) The Sunday that started it was extraordinary. I ate brunch in the sun, did homework at my DCT coffee shop with my friends, and spent the evening with my aunt, uncle and cousins. They fed me real food, and my aunt even gave me a big tub of chai tea mix that she bought at Costco just for me. Delicious! I also got a text from my mom, saying "Ty and Amy and I are talking about how colors can represent a person's personality. We decided that you are a daffodil yellow :)." Too cute! And as an added bonus, there were kittens.

b) My Experimental Psychology class is cancelled today. YES.

c) Hall Olympics are going on this week. So I get to photo scavenge and shuffle-board it and LARP, as official school activities.

d) The Junior/Senior Extravaganza is on Friday night. So I get to spend hours eating, bowling, lazer-tagging and eating once again.

e) My cousin Becca has her regional gymnastics meet in Anaheim on Saturday, and I get to go see her compete. I am so excited because I haven't seen her do her thing in over a year. She is talented!

The Best Day

I went to bed last night teary-eyed because I had been thinking about how much I miss my mom. I woke up to a text from her that said "Hey, stranger! What's up?!?!" Then we talked for two hours.

Love my mama :)